Varsaw, Berlin, Paris, London, Shanghai : you have a very rich background and lived in many countries before devoting yourself entirely to Art. To better understand your artistic path, please tell us first about your roots and your childhood.
I was born in 1977 in Pabianice, a small city in the center of Poland.
I was always a day-dreamer as a little girl spending much of my time outside, playing every afternoon in the courtyard of the collective outdoor playground from the communist era. The games of my childhood followed the rhythm of the seasons. In spring I was happy to cut and sell Lilac to passers-by on the street. In summer, I played with leaves and mud. In fall, with the whole family, we picked mushrooms in the wide beautiful forest nearby. In winter, it was much too cold and dark to do anything outside so I preferred to play with fabric and buttons in my parents' workshop.
My childhood was modest, sweet and simple and strongly connected to Nature. There was no limit to my imagination and the surrounding world was a permanent source of inspiration and curiosity.
What made you leave your home city, then Poland ?
I am still very connected to Poland and to my home city. But I had the feeling very early on that my life would be different from others'. I didn't want to conform to normality. I wanted to live an inspiring life and I knew that I needed to invent it and take a different path.
Learning was a key step towards this path. The more I learnt, the more I became curious and eager to learn. I learned German and English and worked hard in parallel to my studies to finance language courses in Germany. With this energy, I graduated from my Business School in Lodz in 2 years instead of 3. I won also a prize that enabled me to work at a young age in a consulting firm in Lucern, in Switzerland. Then in 1999, at the same time, I was accepted to do an M.A in Political Sciences at Warsaw School of Economics - one of the most prestigious universities in Poland - and to a very selective program organized by the German Parliament, where I worked as a parliamentary assistant.
So, can we say that Berlin was the start of your adventure ?
I think that, in my case, the adventure started very early. But it is true that in Berlin, everything was accelerated. There, I met my future husband, who is French. We were very enthusiastic about the future, full of dreams and ready to conquer the world. I decided then to learn French and to complete my studies with an M.A in European Affairs in Paris and London.
And in London, it is the revelation...
Yes, these 6 months in London changed my life. Remembering this period, I still have tears in my eyes. Every day after my study time, I would be visiting museums, discovering another part of the History of the Art world. The National Gallery was like my second home. The free entrance allowed me to go there almost every day, sometimes just for 20 minutes to admire a masterpiece. I spent weeks studying Art History just by myself. For the first time in my life, I was totally connected to the world of Art. My passion for Art probably started there and continues until today.
But at that time, you were not thinking about becoming an artist...
No. Coming back to France, I finished my studies in Paris and started to work for a large company. For 5 years, I tried to find my place and comply with the model of the "successful" life.
But progressively, I felt disconnected, living an artificial life. What was the sense of spending entire days in an office or commuting, working hard for no recognition, trying to tick the right boxes whatever the price ? My feeling of disconnection grew even stronger when I became a mother and I could only see my child late in the evening.
I didn't realize at that time that I had forgotten the little day-dreamer that I used to be and her will to take a different path. I was struggling every day to live a "normal life" and fit into a pre-defined model as if there was no other option.
In Shanghai, at last, you were able to choose your path...
Yes, just after the birth of my second child in 2011, my life changed radically. My husband was appointed to Shanghai and we moved to China.
I took this expatriation as a chance to reconnect with myself and with Art. Just a few days after our arrival, I joined an Art school and felt immediately in love with Chinese ink painting. For 3 years, I studied ink painting and calligraphy with Chinese masters. I also learned Mandarin and studied poems from Tang and Song dynasties. I discovered Chinese ceramics and traditional embroidery from minorities, who had a great influence on my first paintings.
I also travelled a lot across Asia, Australia and New Zealand. Not only could I develop my knowledge about traditional and contemporary Art in this region of the globe but also I connected more intimately with the different cultures that I met. These connections continue to nourish my work to this day.
So, would you say it was in Asia that you finally became an artist ?
Let's say that Asia gave me the opportunity to reveal who I am. In 2013, I started to create my own series, mixing Chinese ink painting with my Western techniques and references. Beside my participation in several collective exhibitions in 2013 and 2014, I organized my first individual exhibition in 2014 and was happy to immediately sell my artwork. The feedback on my paintings was very positive. So I decided to complete my transformation and to become an artist.
And after China ?
Coming back to Europe was both difficult and beneficial. I had to leave Shanghai, which I had become very attached to, to move in the space of just a few years to Paris, to Norwich in England, and then finally to Lyon in France. But I have learned a great deal. I had the chance to travel a lot, across the USA and to live for a short while in London, in New York and in Arizona, all of which had a profound impact on me.
All these moves and intense personal experiences have added to my own thinking around the notion of connection : our connection with Nature, our connection with our cultural, political and social environment, our connection with ourselves and with our interior light. I think that the universe radiates positive energy around us, which helps us to live and be happy. My work as an artist is to capture this energy and share it by creating joyful and poetic works that do good to others.
What about today ?
Today, I live and work in Lyon, in France, while still feeling. very connected to the inspiring places and people that I have met around the world. I am preparing new projects and several exhibitions to share my work about the energy of trees.
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